James Returns
by sleepyseven
Summary: James was able to escape from Edward in the ballet studio and has returned for Bella. While being held captive Bella forms a unexpected relationship with James. Rating for violence, lemons, and rape. Read at your own risk. If you do please review!
1. Chapter 1

This story starts up at the end of Twilight, but with some changes. James was able to escape the Cullens in the ballet studio. Edward decides to leave Bella to find and kill James. Just like in Twilight he tells her he won't come back because he is too much of a danger for her.

Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, not me.

**Chapter 1**

"This is for the best Bella, I have to do this because I love you." Edward was pushing me away, but I wouldn't give up. I tried to fight my way around his arms to wrap myself around him. If I could just hang on to him he wouldn't be able to go.

"No, NO! This isn't what's best! If you love me then stay with me!" Desperation leaked into my voice. The Earth was twisting under my feet, threatening to just up and disappear at any moment; nothing would be right if Edward left me now.

"I need you. You can't leave. It's my choice to put myself in danger." My voice was shrill and shaky around the sobs forming in my throat. He put his arms around me and kissed my forehead. I relaxed for a moment, mistaking his gesture as a sign that he'd given in to my pleas and would stay.

"I'm sorry love, I have to do this. I promise to find James and put an end to this." I clenched my hands into fists, holding onto his shirt tightly. I buried my face in his shoulder. He was all I could have ever wanted, and now it was being taken away from me.

"I'd rather he just kill me than to live without you!" I saw the pain in his eyes at my confession, but it was the truth; I needed him to know that. He untangled himself from me and cupped my face in his hands.

"Bella, my beautiful Bella..." He sighed and closed his eyes. "Try to stay out of trouble, Alice and the others will be there if you really need anything." With that he stepped into the tree line, vanishing into the forest instantly.

I followed Edward into the trees, trying to keep up with him; an impossible task. I let my feet lead me in the direction my instincts told me he'd gone. After who knows how long I knew somewhere deep in my heart that he was too far away to follow. My feet just kept going, one after the other; it was if time stood still as long as I could keep moving.

This was just a horrible dream, like the kind where the killer is chasing you but you just can't get your feet to move any faster. Except in this nightmare I was the one doing the chasing.

My heart was hard sculpted ice, not beating, not feeling, just there. Without Edward my heart was useless, a space filler in my chest. The rain was dripping down through the green canopy of trees, blending with the tears that streamed down my face.

I realized at some point that I was screaming his name out into the darkness and reaching my hands out into nothing. I wandered like this for hours, convinced that he was just behind the next tree.

Eventually it had gotten so dark that moving was impossible. Every step took me into a large round tree trunk. I walked into one and just wrapped my arms around it, holding on to it for dear life. I feared that if I let go gravity would cease to exist and I would go hurtling through the air into the vast blackness of the sky. It wouldn't be so bad I thought, to just float among the stars in peace.

The wet bark was gritty and covered in moss, my hold was slipping. The last of my strength went out of my body and I fell limply to the wet floor of the forest. I lay unmoving, listening to the sound of the rain in the trees. Water puddle around me, it felt like the ice in my heart had spread to my entire body. I'd never felt cold like this before.

'_This must be what it feels like to be dead.' _I thought absently. Everything had gone numb, surreal.

It felt like I was floating somewhere outside my body, where emotion couldn't touch me anymore. This is where I would stay I decided. If I didn't have Edward, I didn't want anyone or anything. I would lay here in the forest until heaven felt I had suffered enough and opened its gates for me to enter.

Somewhere behind me I heard a twig snap, I could feel the presence behind me. I didn't move though, if it were an animal here to kill me then so be it. I held my breath in anticipation of the attack.

Two strong, cold arms slipped beneath me and picked me up out of the water. Relief ran over my body like sunlight. He hadn't left me after all; it had hurt him to be away just as much as it hurt me. We would stay together forever and forget that danger ever existed. I leaned my head against his shoulder and sighed.

"I knew you wouldn't leave me Edward." I wrapped my arms around his neck, trying to control the shivers that shook my body like seizures.

"No, Edward is gone. You're mine now." Came a voice even colder than the freezing water pouring over my body.

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	2. Chapter 2

Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. Please Review!

**Chapter 2**

I kicked and thrashed against James, trying to scratch my way out of his arms; my efforts were wasted on him. He held his vice like grip on my body and was silently running through the trees. I opened my mouth and tried to scream, but it came out weak and ended with me coughing uncontrollably.

My body was still freezing and shaking from the ice-cold rain that fell all around us. The numbness I had experience earlier had disappeared quickly and was replaced with a rush of adrenalin and fear. My senses were hyper alert; every sound we made was like an explosion in my ears. I could smell James' skin, slightly Earthy and sweet.

We traveled for hours it seemed. The rain had slowed to a light drizzle, and eventually stopped all together, but pressed against James' cold marble body I couldn't get warm. Exhaustion edged around my consciousness and finally took me under. I had been dreaming of Edward's face when the sensation of us slowing down woke me.

There was a clearing in the forest up ahead of us and I could make out a building in the middle of it. Fear paralyzed my body. Being held by James while running through the forest was awful, but the thought of being in a closed in space with him was absolutely terrifying. I began to fight against him again and was met with an evil laugh.

"Do you really think that's going to help?"

His smile was haunting. I knew there was no point to fighting, but my body was acting on instinct.

Edward had left me to try and protect me from James; I wouldn't just give up and let his efforts be for nothing.

I wanted to tear him to pieces, rip him limb from limb and spit on the pieces of his mangled corpse. I opened my mouth to yell at him; instead pitiful sobs escaped.

"Please, just leave me alone." I covered my face with my hands; I didn't want him to see me defeated.

"That wouldn't be much fun would it?"

He still had the same hate filled grin on his face. "Your sweet little boy friend sealed your fate when he brought you into our world."

James' face looked bitter and angry now. His mouth was no longer lifted at the edges, but twisted into a dark scowl.

I could see the building we were walking towards was actually a small, dark cabin. The front porch was in need of major repair so we were circling around to back a door. James carried me through the old, dirty kitchen and down a dark hallway into the only bedroom on the right.

My eyes hadn't adjusted to the sudden darkness and my heart did flip-flops as he sent my body flying through the air onto a small mattress in the corner. When I landed dust exploded around me, and the stale smell of mold and dirt filled my nose. I coughed a few times and stared out into the dark, waiting for my eyes to adjust.

The window had been boarded over and light was seeped in through the cracks. Other than the mattress I was sitting on there was nothing in the room. I put my arms around myself trying to control the shaking that had started in me. I wasn't sure if it was from fear or the cold.

My clothes were still soaking wet from last night's rain. I could only guess that it was near morning now, the light was steadily getting brighter outside. James had left the room for a second and had returned with something balled up in his hands.

"Take your clothes off." It was a command and I wasn't about to follow.

"N-n-o-o." I was barely able to get the words through my chattering teeth.

"It wasn't a request." He growled, taking a step closer. "If you don't take them off, I will remove them for you." His eyes were narrowed to dangerous slits.

The idea of his hands close enough to remove my clothes made my stomach turn. I stood up unsteadily, and once I was somewhat sure I wouldn't lose my balance I began to slowly pull my clothes off.

The material was tight and clingy from being wet and I had trouble getting my jacket and shoes off. I began to unbutton my shirt but hesitated and glanced over at James.

His head was cocked to the side and he watched me with interest. The look in his eyes was unnerving. I held my breath and tried not to cry as I finished unbuttoning my shirt and pulled it off. It took some coaxing to get my jeans off, but finally I stood there in only my little white bra and panties. I held my arms in front of me, clasping my hands in a weak effort to hide my body. James was enjoying my obvious torture.

"Those too." He pointed at my underwear.

"Go to hell."

I was tired, cold, and angry. There was no stopping him if he was going to kill me, dressed or not. Why should I do anything he said? I lifted my chin in defiance, daring him to try and take the last shred of my dignity. He just laughed and walked forward to me.

"You have a death wish don't you?" He continued to look me over with interest. "I never could figure out 'ol Eddie boy's obsession with you, but I can definitely see there is something interesting here." His eyes studied my body, all covered in goose bumps from the frigid air.

"No more games, give me your clothes."

James dropped the bundle in his hands at my feet and it unrolled into a pile of dry clothes. He was close enough to touch me now, but I preferred to keep his hands off of me.

With every bit of pride I could muster, I slowly unhooked my bra and dropped it onto the pile of my wet clothes, then slid off my underwear to do the same with them. A few tears of humiliation slipped down my cheeks, but I held my breath to stop anymore from escaping, not wanting to show how upset I really was.

I held my head high, not moving for the clothes he had thrown at me. I could feel his eyes on my body now; his stare was so intense it probably left marks on me where he was looking. After a few silent minutes he shook his head and smiled.

"This is going to kill Edward." He shook his head with an amused smile then bent over to pick up my soggy pile of clothes. His head stopped half way down and turned towards me, looking directly at my puckered nipples.

I gulped in a little whine of discomfort. James laughed a little before taking my clothes and leaving the room.

My breath came out in a whoosh of air. I moved as quickly as my stiff body would let me, almost tripping as I pulled on the baggy sweat pants and mans long sleeve button up shirt. There was a hole in the knee of the sweats and the sleeves on the shirt were so long I had to roll them, but they were dry and didn't smell horrible. I half hoped they were actually clean. I didn't want to think of whom they might have belonged to, but thanked whoever it was and sat down on the mattress, tucking my feet beneath me.

The tears flowed without hesitation now. My mind was in chaos from the feelings I had experienced in the past ten hours. I was still reeling from last nights devastating blow of Edward leaving, then the fear from James' kidnapping me. Now the humiliation of having to strip in front of James was eating away at what was left of my strength.

My eyes felt swollen from my crying, and my body was sore from the violent shivering that had gripped me all night. I would have thought it impossible, but my brain switched off and I fell asleep just as the sun was rising outside my window. My nightmare was just beginning.


	3. Chapter 3

The Twilight characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter 3**

The light in the room was grey and the colors were all muddy when I woke up hours later. I just lay still, looking at the ceiling for awhile, thinking about what had happened in such a short amount of time. I rolled over onto my side and gasped at James sitting up against the wall next to the door. He was sitting so still, like a statue in the fading light.

"You talk in your sleep." He said it like it might something no one had ever told me before. I just rolled my eyes.

"I know, Edward has told me." I eyed him suspiciously. I couldn't figure out why I was still alive.

"It's an odd thing to sleep." His voice sounded a little far away, like he was thinking about something he couldn't see. But he just kept looking at me with his piercing red eyes.

"You used to do it." It was the only response I could think of.

I was having a difficult time imagining James as a weak, mortal human, but he had been at one time.

"Yes, I did. A very long time ago." He leaned his head back and looked at the wall above me. Lost in a thought I was sure I didn't want to hear. After a few minutes of his odd reflecting, he let his gaze fall back to me.

"You need to eat don't you?" I felt he was asking the question without expecting an answer, like I was some sort of animal with no way of really communicating.

I just nodded my head slowly, fearing what he might bring me to eat. He left the room in a flash and I could instantly hear him in the kitchen. I worried about what kind of food would be left in the old, dilapidated cabin. When he returned he tossed a bag of potato chips at me and a bottle of water. They didn't look ancient so I ate them.

"Why are you still human?" He must have been thinking about it for awhile, he had been quiet the entire time I had been eating. I wasn't sure if he really wanted a response or not so I waited a second before answering.

"Edward doesn't want to make me into a vampire." I cleared my throat after answering, hoping he didn't hear the little bit of bitterness in my answer. I often wondered why I wasn't a vampire yet too.

"That doesn't make any sense. He fights so hard to protect you, when it could be done so easily by making you into one of us." It still seemed like he was talking to himself, but he waited for another response.

"He thinks I am too young." I said quietly.

He rolled my answer around in his head for a few minutes. Everything seemed wrong with this situation. I shouldn't just be sitting here discussing my mortality with James. My heart beat heavily against my rib cage. James was a cold-blooded killer, literally. Yet here we sat, having a calm conversation about how my safety could be insured. James shook his head, a strand of blonde hair falling lightly into his face.

"You don't seem any younger than Edward when he was changed." The way he spoke about Edward, like he knew him, made my blood boil. He had no right to talk about my Edward at all, even if it was to make a simple observation.

"Don't you say his name." I said it lowly, I was tired of him playing with me and my anger was returning with force now that I had slept and ate. His eyes went wide, almost like he was laughing me.

"What do you want with me?" There was no point in waiting around I thought, I just wanted this to be over with.

"I want Edward, Edward wants you. If I have you, Edward will come to me. And if I kill you first, it will just hurt him more. Its simple isn't it? " James laid it out for me, without even a flinch. I was just a pawn, someone he had to use to get to the king.

"Why do you want to kill him?" I couldn't stop myself from asking, it made my heart hurt to think of Edward dead.

"He needs to face someone stronger than him, someone faster and smarter. He needs to learn some humility." His words were practically dripping with anger. "He thinks he is so perfect. Not killing humans, living among them… hell, he even has his little human girl friend! He won't even make you into a vampire like him because he is just so good and righteous!"

James was pacing through the room now, like a stalking hunter. I cringed back into the corner away from him. I had momentarily forgotten just how dangerous he was.

"That's right, you weak little human. You should be scared! Edward has misled you into thinking you could be safe around the vampires. What the fuck were you thinking getting involved with one?" He was leaning over me, close enough that I could feel the cool air of his breath on my cheek as he yelled. "I am going to enjoy teaching you what its like to really be scared."

Without thinking I reached up to smack him.

He caught my arm in mid air, squeezing my wrist so tightly that I thought it might snap. I whimpered under his hold, remembering what had happened in the ballet studio. He twisted my arm, forcing me to move with it to keep him from breaking my wrist. I was on my stomach now, my right arm angled painfully up my back. He whispered into my ear with terrifying calmness.

"I can kill you right now, and he wouldn't even know. I could just tell him I am keeping you alive to lure him here." I felt his tongue lick the edge of my ear, and then he trailed his lips down the curve behind my ear to my neck.

"But that wouldn't be much fun, would it?" I could hear the smile in his words, he was enjoying himself again. "I want Edward to see me sink my teeth into your in neck. I want him to hear your screams of pain before he dies."

He released my arm and was back sitting on the wall before I could regain my composure and sit up again. I was shaking now, the spot on my neck where his lips had touched tingled slightly.

There was something odd in how intensely he hated Edward. He thought Edward had some sort of superiority complex and was so perfect. That was so far opposite of the way Edward had described himself to me.

Edward was humble, he thought of himself as a horrible monster, far from perfect I stared into James face for a long time, trying to figure out what it was that James wanted to break in Edward.

"He will find me." I said confidently.

"I'm counting on it." He smiled, licking his lips a little.

"Then he will kill you."

His smiled faltered and before I could say another word he leapt up and smacked me across the face, slamming my head into the wall and sending me spiraling into the darkness once more.

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	4. Chapter 4

Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

Please review =)

Chapter 3

I woke to a pounding head and complete darkness. My mouth tasted horrible, like copper and dirt. After a minute I remembered it was blood, there was some dried around my mouth and under my nose. Lightly touching my now swollen cheek, I sat up and looked around.

James was in the same exact place he had been the last time I woke up, watching me sleep. Jesus, between him and Edward you would think watching me sleep was better then TV. Some day I would have to record myself and see what it is I do that makes it so damn interesting. Tears pricked the corners of eyes when I realized there would never be some day. My final days would be with the monster sitting a few feet from me.

He watched as I got my bearings and adjusted to the darkness. My now dry clothes were in a pile next to the mattress. That was a good thing since the shirt I had on was smeared with blood, as was the mattress.

"Get dressed, we're leaving." He barked the order at me, but didn't make a move to leave. My embarrassment was masked by irritation and pain while I changed this time. After I slipped my jacket over my shoulders he gripped my arm began dragging out of the room.

"I can walk on my own you know." I growled sarcastically. Why is it these vampires could never let a girl walk on her own?

"Shut up." Was all he said, apparently his talkative mood had passed. He shoved me into the bathroom across the hall and ordered me to wash up. I splashed the cold water on my face and tried to rub off the caked on blood. I watched him in the mirror behind me. He seemed aggravated and restless. His eyes kept darting around the small room, which I noticed were almost completely black.

My heart rate speed up a little, he was hungry. I tried not to panic, thinking that if he had been able to resist killing me while the blood had been gushing out of my nose, then surely he could resist now. But what was the point of prolonging it? He was going to kill me eventually anyway. I trade to form an escape plan, but I knew there was no way I could get away from him.

Edward must know I am missing by now I prayed. I hadn't come home last night, Charlie would have been looking for me. Which meant that the whole town of Fork's would be looking too, that included the Cullen's. Would they have told Edward? I didn't see why they wouldn't. Maybe Edward was tracking us right now, coming to save me once more.

I couldn't pretend to be washing my face anymore, I turned the water off in the sink and spun around to face James. This time he pushed me in front of him to walk out the back door on my own instead of being pulled along by him. There was an old, white sedan waiting for us, he must have stolen it while I was sleeping. I just stood, staring at the car, not exactly sure what to do. He opened the passenger door for me to get in. I guess it was a good thing to not be riding in the trunk I thought.

We drove down an over grown drive way and onto a highway. I still had no idea where we were. There were no highway markers, or any signs at all. The pavement was cracked and covered in potholes, obviously no one came down this way anymore. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the seat. My nerves were frayed, it felt like I had been hoped up on caffeine for three days straight. I could sense the light changing behind my eyelids.

When I opened my eyes I could see it was just neon lights up ahead, not the rising sun. A seedy old gas station was blinking a large twenty-four hour sign above its doors. We pulled in quickly, sending dirt and gravel flying into the air.

"Come on, it's time to eat." The way he said it made me feel slightly light headed. I wasn't sure what he meant, but I had a pretty good idea. I followed him into the small store hesitantly. There was an over weight man sitting behind the counter, looking at a car magazine. He looked up at us, startled by our sudden entrance. He didn't say anything to us, but watched as James approached him.

"Can I help you folks?" He finally asked once James was a mere half a foot away from the counter between them.

"I'm sure you can." James said lowly, then with one graceful leap he was over the counter and sunk his teeth into the man's neck. I watched in horror as the man's eyes went wide, he screamed out in pain and trashed against James. The man probably out weighed James by at least sixty pounds, and was taller by a few inches, but James was unwavering. The man's screams had stopped, but mine continued to ring through the small store like an alarm. His eyes finally closed and James dropped him to the floor.

When he turned back to me, his eyes were glowing red in the dim florescent lights. He smiled and jumped back across the counter, he was in front of me in less than a second.

"Stop screaming Bella." He smiled as he commanded to be silently, but I couldn't stop. I kept seeing the poor man's eyes in my head.

"Stop now!" He grabbed the upper part of my arms roughly and shook me slightly, when that didn't work he clamped his mouth down over mine.

His kiss caught me off guard, so I didn't resist right away. The warmth from the blood he had just drank still lingered on his lips, but his tongue was cool and soft. He slipped it between my lips and tickled my own tongue with it. Once blood returned to my brain and I could think straight I put my hands on his chest and pushed as hard as I could. I knew I wasn't strong enough to even budge him, but he stopped anyway.

Even though he had stopped kissing me, he didn't back away. The cocky smile that had disappeared in the wake of his hunger had returned, showing a row of perfect white teeth. I couldn't stop myself for thinking his eyes had probably been blue when he was human. The thought left as quickly as it had entered my mind. There was nothing human about James. He had just killed the first person we came across without even blinking.

He finally released my arms and stepped around me towards the door.

"Get something to eat then get back in the car." He said, and then smacked my ass as he walked by. I picked bags randomly off the shelves, thinking I would never actually be hungry again.


	5. Chapter 5

The Twilight characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. Thanks for the reviews =) Please keep it up! I looovvee them. No seriously, I am a lunatic and I smile and giggle when I read reviews. Even if they say my story blows.

**Chapter 5**

We continued driving north without talking; I was stunned into silence by what I had seen in the gas station. After what I thought had been hours I looked at the clock, we had only been driving for forty minutes. There were only a few more hours until the sun would come up.

I didn't want to talk to him, I didn't want to be sitting near him, but my anger got the better of me.

"How can you just kill like that?" My voice was shaky with rage. "How can you just kill innocent people?" He looked in the rear view mirror, then over to me.

"What makes you so sure he was innocent?" His question was mocking my indignation. "No one is innocent little girl." He smiled and turned his eyes back to the road.

"Well who gave you the right to decide who dies and who doesn't" I was close to losing my control and just out right screaming at him.

"It has nothing to do with rights, its nature. I eat humans, he was human. Would you have preferred for me to feed off of you?" James slid a hand onto my thigh and squeezed it playfully. A cold chill crept up my spine.

"You could eat animals you know." My voice was as icy as the spot on my leg he was touching.

"Oh right, like your perfect little boy friend. The 'good' vampire." His resentment towards Edward was thick in the air.

"Why should I go against what nature has created?" He removed his hand from my leg and was gripping the steering wheel like he wanted to break it.

"Who says nature created you?" I threw back at him, the way he had when I claimed the man in the gas station had been innocent. He relaxed slightly; he didn't have an answer for me.

Time slipped by without notice, I wasn't paying attention to where we were going or how long it was taking us to get there. I thought about Edward, where he might be right now. The ache in my heart came back when I remembered him fading into the trees, leaving me to save me he had said.

I could imagine how guilty he would feel when he figured out James had me. That wasn't what I wanted; I never wanted him to feel bad about loving me, and in turn putting me in danger. Tears escaped from my closed eyes and I quickly brushed them away. Not quickly enough though, James saw them and frowned.

"Why do you love him anyway?" His question was unexpected. I had to collect myself before I could answer.

"He is everything I have ever wanted. Edward is loving, and compassionate. He's smart and caring; he would do anything for me." I looked out the window at the passing houses. I wished with all my heart to be back in my own house, with Edward lying next to me while I slept

"You know, even with all that love, things don't always work out." He sounded bitter and angry again.

"Why do you hate Edward so much?" Something told me his hate for Edward wasn't just because he hadn't been able to kill me the first time. James just laughed and leaned back in his seat.

"What's not to hate?"

I thought the conversation was over when he didn't say anything for a few minutes. But he put his elbow up on the back of the seat between us and looked over at me.

"Why should Edward get everything he wants? Why should he have a family and a girl friend that loves him? The way he lives is not right for our kind." His eyebrows were drawn together in frustration.

"We are meant to be killers; it's all we are supposed to do. Vampires are supposed to live alone; love isn't part of who we are!" James was balling his hand into a fist, anger coming off of him like heat.

"You've never been in love?" The words slipped out before I could stop myself. Part of me felt pity for James. What kind of existence could someone have without love? He didn't answer me.

We were turning down a small side street to the left and when I looked out the window I could see rows of unfinished houses, nothing but wood and concrete. In the early morning light they looked like skeletons lined up for battle.

At the end of the street were two completely finished homes, with little white fences around them and a sign that said "Come check out our new models!"

James parked the car a few houses down and got out without waiting for me. I scurried out of the car after him, almost having to jog to keep up. We went around the back of the first house to a large back door. Without even flexing James was able to rip it off of its hinges and let us in. He carefully set the door back in place behind us.

Someone had stopped furnishing the house half way through. There were couches in the living room, and a dresser on its side in the corner. The kitchen had five wooden chairs set in a line, but no table. James pushed me forward towards the stairs at the back of the living room. I walked up them with James following closely, uncomfortably close I thought.

He stopped me when we reached the master bedroom; it was the only room with a bed. There were cheap horizontal blinds in the windows and no door on the bathroom. I stopped in the middle of the room and just stared at the empty space around me. James perched at the top of the bed, leaning against the wall.

"I was in love once." He said absently, looking at the doorway next to me. His openness was surprising. I walked over and sat on the end of the bed, folding my legs beneath me Indian style.

"While you were human?" I waited to see his face when he answered. I thought he was lying to me at first.

"Yeah, it was a long time ago." His expression was soft and he picked at the little balls of fuzz on the bed, it was such a human thing to do I thought.

"Who was she?" I hated to think of James as a person with feelings, but he didn't seem like the same cold murderer he had when I first saw him all of a sudden.

"It doesn't matter." A dark cloud passed over his eyes. He looked up at me with fury on his face. He leapt towards me and pinned me back against the bed.

"How do you think your precious Edward is going to feel when he loses you huh?" His fingers curled painfully into my shoulders and I gasped in surprise.

"Do you think he would be such a good little boy if he lost everything he loved?" Somewhere in his eyes, behind all the resentment, was sadness.

"Stop James, please, you're hurting me." I whimpered out at him. His hold on me softened, but he didn't get up.

Instead he lowered his face to the curve between my neck and my shoulder and rested his forehead against me. He took in a long labored breath and sat back up, straddling me with his hands on either side of my head. He stared at me for a long time, finally looking me straight in the eyes.

"If he really loved you, he would have stayed away from you." James went back to sit at the front of the bed crossing his arms in front of him.

I rolled away from him and curled into a ball where I lay. My mind was running in a million directions now, playing scenarios in my head of what it had been like for James when he was human. Had he always been such a hateful person? Or had he really been capable of love once?


	6. Chapter 6

The Twilight characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

I had to change the rating for some up coming naughtiness. Sorry to anyone who doesn't like it. Please review =)

**Chapter 6**

We stayed like that for the rest of the day, avoiding each other's questioning looks. When I had to use the bathroom, James left the room and returned with a handful of the food I had stolen from the gas station.

Seeing the bags brought back images of the man he had killed. I couldn't help myself from crying over the stranger. I sat on my knees on the floor and put my hands over my face. Part of me was crying because I knew eventually that would be me, bleeding to death in James' arms. Never seeing Edward again, never seeing anyone I loved again. At least I had been able to say good-bye to Edward.

The sobs came fast and hard as I thought about Rene and Charlie. It would ruin them when I never came back. Poor Charlie, who was going to cook and clean for him now? We had made such a happy little life together in the short time I had been with him.

And Alice, my tiny pixie vampire, she was the sister I always wanted. Now she would spend eternity blaming her self for not being able to stop this. James was suddenly next to me, wrapping his arms around my shaking body. He lifted me onto the bed and cradled me in his lap.

"Why can't you just stop this? Just let me go." I was punching him in the chest, trying to make him hurt as much as I did. But he didn't talk, he just held me until I quieted into soft hiccups. I had nowhere else to put my head except against his shoulder.

"You remind me of someone." His voice was soft and velvety; I had never heard it that way before. "Of the girl I loved." He was so quiet I almost didn't hear his words right next to my ear.

"Who was she?" My curiosity was stronger then my need to hate James at that moment. He sighed and leaned his head against mine.

"Her name was Melody." I waited for more of a description, but he was lost in thought.

"She looked like me?" I asked sullenly. I wanted to extract myself from his arms, but I was strangely comfortable there.

"No. She had curly hair; it was much lighter than yours. When she stood in the sun it was almost golden. Her eyes changed colors with the seasons too, green to brown." He was smiling at someone who wasn't in the room with us. "You remind me of her because she was always so stubborn, even when she was scared." He sighed and looked back down at me, his eyes reflected decades of pain.

"What happened to her?"

James' clenched his jaw and his arms around me tightened painfully.

"She was in love with a vampire." He sat me down next to him and stood up to walk to the window. The sun was finally beginning to fade behind the distant hills. His eyes turned to me, a cold blood red.

"Just like you Bella, she thought her love was enough to stop a vampire from killing her!" James stalked back to me and leaned in close.

"After I was turned, the son of a bitch vampire who did it just left me! Melody found me and cared for me, not knowing what it was that made me ill. For three days she never left my side, promising me it would all be ok!" He was the one shaking now; he gripped the hair on the back of my head and yanked it back painfully, not letting me look away from him.

"When I finally died, she wept for me. She held me in her arms and prayed to God to bring me back to her! When I opened my eyes she thought her prayers had been answered!" He paused, panting raggedly into my face. "It wasn't until I had attacked her, ripping the flesh from her neck that she knew I wasn't what she had prayed for."

He threw me backwards against the bed with disgust. I just lay there staring at him, crying now for his loss, not mine.

"Do you see now?! Do you see what happens when you are around vampires?" He pulled my leg so that I slid towards him, stopping when he was between my legs.

"No matter how much you love someone Bella, in the end it's the blood lust that matters more." I could see the agony in his eyes, the centuries he had spent hating himself for what he had done. Embracing the natural urge to kill, denying that he could ever be anything more.

"I'm so sorry." My lips trembled and I couldn't get anything else out. He leaned over and scooped me into his arms again, kissing me so hard I had to struggle to breath.

I wanted more than anything to kick and scream and force him off of me. I thought of Edward and how my heart stopped every time he touched me. Guilt and shame sat like stones in my stomach. But the pity I felt for James wouldn't let me stop him.

I could feel his need for comfort like it was coming straight out of his soul. My hands reluctantly went around his neck and my fingers tangled themselves in his hair. He kissed along my jaw line to the delicate skin on my neck.

I was gasping for air, my heart raced with pleasure and fear. My hands were holding onto his shoulders and I could feel the muscles tighten and flex under my fingers.

There was no way for me to know if James had been telling the truth or not, but I had seen him kill without remorse only hours ago, and now his mouth was pressed against my neck. He could kill me at any second, before I even knew what was happening, but his mouth just kept moving in a line to my collarbone. A soft moan slid from my lips as he gently lowered me to the bed.

He stood over me, searching for some sign of resistance. I knew I should stop, but something about him was taking over my body. I took in the sight of his bare chest, all sharp lines and muscle. He put his hand on my neck, barely squeezing.

"Aren't you scared?" He was testing me, but I couldn't lie.

"Yes." I breathed out, my chest rose and fell violently as I fought to catch my breath. His hand moved to the collar of my shirt and with one quick motion he ripped it in half. James' hands moved slowly down my chest to my hips, holding me snug against him.

I could feel him against the soft spot between my legs, hard and ready. Suddenly my mind snapped back to reality. Edward.

"Stop, James. I can't do this!" I tried to push off of him, but he didn't let go of my hips.

"You don't have to do anything." His eyes were glazed and distant. He stared through me instead of at me. The fear I was feeling before was nothing compared to the terror that now paralyzed me. I screamed out into the night, but there was no one around to hear my cries.

_Ok internet people, I have two versions of the next chapter. One is pretty tame and I wouldn't feel too guilty if a youngin' came across it, and the other one is kinda NC-17ish. So if I could get some suggestions to which one people want to read I that would be great. Thanks!_


	7. Chapter 7

The Twilight characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

Warning, this chapter contains a rape scene. Actually that's all it is, cause I'm a perv like that. If you skip this you won't be missing anything. Please keep with the reviews, they make me ridiculously giddy. Happy reading. =) And remember! If you are under seventeen you know better than to be reading this **evil mom stare**

Oh, and don't worry, Edward hasn't disappeared, his POV is coming.

**Chapter 7**

An animal like growl came from James' chest; he unbuttoned my jeans and then gripped them with both hands. He tore them apart at the seams in a flurry of material. The shock kept me from moving for a second too long. Right when I was about to roll away from him he jumped on the bed and on top of me, pinning my hands next to my head at the wrists.

"You wanted to be with a vampire, now's your chance." His eyes still looked hazy and lost. Not the same James I had been talking to just minutes before.

"No, please don't do this to me." I begged him shrilly, trying to bring him back to reality. He kissed me again, a deep hungry kiss.

His hands slid down my arms and under my back. He ripped my bra apart at the clasp and pulled it out from between us. The sensation of his cold hard chest against my now hard nipples sent a ripple of pleasure down my body, ending in a wet puddle in my underwear.

James rocked forward, pushing his hips against my legs, forcing them to spread wider. His mouth was making its way down to my chest, his tongue flicked at my nipple before he closed his entire mouth onto my breast. My body was aching for him to keep going, my heart was screaming in protest. I beat at his shoulders with my fists, but all I did was hurt my own hands.

Edward was my life and soul; I didn't want my first time to be with anyone but him. I never wanted it to be with anyone but him! I screamed and flailed my body as hard as I could, like a fish flopping violently to get back into the water. It only seemed to turn him on more. I twisted my head side to side violently, trying to shake what was happening out of my reality.

James stood up and drank in the sight of my almost naked body like he was dying of thirst. I couldn't even keep track of his hands as they unzipped his pants and let them fall off. His body was amazing; no matter how much I loved Edward I couldn't deny that. His blonde hair hung loose around his sculpted shoulders and shadows made lines across his hard defined chest. My eyes wandered south and I could see the light blonde hair that started at his belly button and made a line down to his hard, ready penis.

A blush spread across my entire body and I turned my eyes away. This wasn't happening. I wasn't attracted to him; I forced the thought over and over in my mind. I squeezed my eyes close and whimpered a little. Please let this not be happening I prayed.

"This is my first time, please don't" I whispered into the air, knowing James couldn't even hear me anymore.

His hands were on my thighs now, working their way up to the hot spot between my legs. I tried to bat them away, but he just held my own hands together in a concrete like grip. My strength was weakening, but I wouldn't stop fighting.

James rubbed my clit through my underwear, leaning over to put his head on my thigh right next to the pulsating nerves that were ruining my world. My body wasn't cooperating with my defiance. No matter how hard I fought, the little spot between my legs just got wetter and wetter.

James pulled my underwear down without warning; I shivered as the cool air touched the parts of my body I usually kept private. Tears were flowing freely from my eyes now, the world around me blurred.

I felt something soft and cool pushing its way into me, I reached down and felt James' surprisingly soft hair. His mouth worked like a clock, keeping time with the quick pulse between my thighs. My brain was struggling against the pleasure that was crashing over my body in waves. When I couldn't fight anymore and all the pressure in my body had built up to an uncontrollable amount, I arched my back and let it flood out of me. James grabbed my thighs, right above my knees and forced my legs apart as he worked to keep every bit of liquid that escaped me in his mouth.

I was crying in frustration and excitement as he moved himself up to my mouth and kissed me roughly. His hands were under my hips, keeping my body against him in rhythm to his own movements.

He was so long and hard, he crushed himself against me, bruising my pelvic bone. James lifted his hips and slid himself down to the opening between my legs. It was slick and swollen from the orgasm I had so unwillingly gave into. I screamed again, cursing him to hell, begging for death. I screamed Edward's name over and over, if he were anywhere close he would hear me I thought, he would save me from this.

In one quick thrust, without hesitating at all, he forced himself into me. A sharp tearing pain shot through my body, I screamed and pushed against him but he wasn't slowing down. His hands gripped my breast roughly, rubbing his thumbs over my nipples. He was rocking back and forth faster and harder with each push. He moved one of his hands down to my hip and lifted my leg so it was wrapped around him, moving even deeper inside me. The pain was intense, but it was quickly fading into unnerving ecstasy.

The pressure was building again, electric shocks of pleasure were radiating up my body every time he pushed into me. I clawed my hands down his back and pushed my hips against his. The forces from his thrusts were threatening to shatter me into pieces. With a final hard push he let out a primal growl that vibrated through the empty house. James collapsed against me; his cool hard skin was shocking against the heat of my body, like being splashed with ice water.

Convulsions started deep inside of me, shock was setting in.

I gasped for breath between sobs, trying to sort out the feelings in my mind. It took every ounce of strength in my body to keep Edwards face in my mind while James manipulated my body into enjoyment.

My breath caught in my throat as he slipped out from inside of me. James eyes were refocusing, registering my naked body, sprawled out in front of him.

I rolled onto my stomach and curled up into myself. My world was crashing down around me. It felt like I had been hurled off a ten-story building, bruises were erupting like red a blue flowers across my skin.

James settled on the bed behind me, wrapping his body around mine. He ran his fingers through my hair, calming my cries. I begged for sleep, wishing for the blessed unconsciousness it offered. Just as my brain was slipping away, plunging me into a dead sleep, I heard him whisper.

"I'm sorry."


	8. Chapter 8

The Twilight characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

Thank you ScarletteVamp for the suggestion of putting up both versions. I actually just sort of tweaked them both so if you skipped the last chapter you didn't miss much. Hopefully you get the idea of what happened from the first few paragraphs here. Thanks for the reviews! I really do love them, they keep me motivated! Anyway, enough of my babbling.

P.S. As for Victoria, I completely cut her from this story. If I remember right, we (the readers of Twilight) didn't find out that her and James were mates until New Moon. So I just let her go. Edward said at one point that James never actually loved her anyway. Sorry if me cutting her annoys anyone.

**Chapter 8-**

I blinked against the bright light that was shining through the windows. Last night seemed like a bad dream, except for the painful bruises patterned across my body. I winced at the sharp pain in my pelvic bone as I sat up.

I scanned the empty room twice in case I had some how missed him, but James wasn't there. I made my way carefully to the bathroom and examined myself in the mirror.

The shame that enveloped me was crushing. I sat on the floor and covered my face while I cried. My mind couldn't make sense of what had happened last night. Had James raped me or had I wanted him? I remembered fighting against him, but I also remembered the pleasure I felt while he touched me.

I lowered my hands and turned to look at myself in the full-length mirror behind the door. I was disgusted with myself. How could Edward ever look at me the same way again? My body, which he had worked so hard to protect, was now battered and broken, tasted by another man. I couldn't even look myself in the eye.

Suddenly I felt sick; I doubled over the toilet bowl and threw up until all that was left were the bone wrenching dry heaves that choked off my ability to take in air. Once I was sure there would be no more, I stood and rinsed out my mouth.

My eyes blurred with anger, not at James but at myself. What kind of person enjoyed what he had done? I looked up at my naked body and smashed the mirror with my fist. Deep cuts formed on the outside of my hand where it made contact with the glass.

Tears came running out of my eyes again; my heart felt like it was in my throat. I curled in a ball on the floor and just let go. I had ruined everything that could ever be. That was where James found me when he finally returned.

Edward-

I had just gotten into Seattle when my phone rang, the caller ID said Alice. I almost didn't answer, figuring she was just going to try and stop me again. No one in my family thought it was a good idea to hunt James on my own, but I couldn't put them in danger again. I answered the phone but didn't say a word, hoping she would sense my irritation through the airwaves.

"Edward, she's gone. He has her." I didn't have to ask Alice whom she was talking about. My heart fell into my stomach. What had I done?

"Where are they?" The fear in me closed my throat and almost didn't let the words out.

"I don't know; everything keeps changing. He can't make up his mind." Alice sounded like she would be crying if she had been able to.

"How did he get her?" I was already turned around, on my way home.

I had to get to the place he had taken her; I could follow her scent from there.

"The forest behind her house." I cursed myself out loud and closed the phone against Alice's pleading voice.

This was my fault, again. Everything I did put Bella in danger. I left to try and find James before he could come back for her, but he must have already been following us. How could I be so stupid?

I drove as fast as possible on my way to Forks, not stopping for red lights or stop signs. When I rounded the corner to her house I could see cars piled up the driveway, and people standing around in small groups. A search party had been formed. Off on their own I saw my family, their heads gathered close together.

As soon as the car stopped I was out of the car and with my family. I tossed aside all formalities and read each of their minds as quickly as possible. I stopped when I got to Alice's. The visions in her mind cut me to my soul.

If what she saw was true, there was no healing from the wounds I was suffering now. The only thing keeping me from losing my mind was the need to save Bella from the monster that had here. How could I have let this happen I asked myself over and over?

Charlie was walking up to our small group now; his eyes were dark with swollen black circle under them. He looked like he had aged ten years over night. I could hear his thoughts, already laced with emptiness. He didn't think we would find her.

"Chief Swan, I'm so sorry I wasn't here sooner…" He broke me off with a wave.

"Don't apologize, Dr. Cullen explained about your family visit. Thank you for coming back so soon." He put his hand on my shoulder, guilt sat in the back of my throat like bile. If only he knew it was my fault she was gone. If I hadn't run off like an asshole to play hero she would be here now.

He held onto my shoulder like I was keeping him from evaporating into thin air. Charlie was speaking to me without actually hearing his own words.

"Rene is on her way up here; she should be here when…" He couldn't finish the sentence. He turned away from me and began speaking to the crowd of volunteers.

Charlie was explaining that the groups would be heading east through the trees this time, looking for anything. Foot prints, a piece of clothing, anything. Charlie didn't want to say the word body. I wasn't paying attention to him though; I was reading Alice's thoughts.

Alice had told Charlie she spoke to Bella not long before she went missing. She told him that Bella was going to go for a jog along the path that cut through the trees directly behind their house, trying to keep the searches on the opposite direction of where Bella had actually followed me into the forest. It would be easier for me to pick up Bella and James' scents without too many other people walking through the same area.

Without a word to anyone else, I took off into the trees at the exact spot Bella had followed me in. I had watched her for a few minutes as she attempted to keep up with me, but I knew if I stayed too long I'd change my mind. So I left her. I never expected her to go more then a few yards before giving up. She knew there was no possible way to track me, what had she been thinking?

I followed her scent easily, I knew her better than anything else in my world. I reached a large over grown tree; her scent was much stronger there. It was like she had been pressed up against it. This was where his scent mingled with hers. Anger exploded in my body and everything turned red. I broke into a dead run as I followed their scent out into the forest.

**please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

The Twilight characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

Thanks for the reviews!! They're better than cookies!

Chapter 9

Bella-

James was lifting me off the floor, and carrying me back to the bed. My stomach twisted into a tight knot when he touched me. After he put me down he covered me with a blanket. My clothes were destroyed into bits and pieces all across the room; I had nothing else to cover myself with.

He gently pulled my bleeding hand away from my chest where I had been holding it. His face was dark and tense; his thirst for my blood was showing through his eyes. But James just clenched his jaw and gently wrapped my hand with a piece of my ripped shirt, tying it securely at the wrist. He hadn't looked me in the eyes yet. I kept waiting for him to look up; I wanted him to see the agony I was in. Would he even actually care?

Without saying a word he went to a small plastic bag he had dropped on the floor and pulled out a pair of underwear, jeans, a college football t-shirt and a grey sweatshirt. He turned towards me, and I was expecting him to say something, but he just swallowed roughly and went back out the door. I lay still for a few more minutes, my body was so sore, I didn't want to move.

Eventually I made my way to the clothes he had laid out on the bed for me. The jeans were slightly baggy, and the t-shirt was too thin for my bra less self, but the sweatshirt fixed that problem. Once I was dressed I pulled on my socks and shoes and sat in the corner of the room, reflecting on my situation.

All I wanted was for Edward to come walking through the door, to rescue me and take me home where I never had to think about anything that had happened ever again. I decided then to never speak a word about what had happened to Edward. I didn't think I could survive the way he would look at me if he knew. Besides, it would only hurt him, and he didn't need to suffer for my pain.

I put my head down on my knees and sighed. Here I was thinking about the future, and who knew if it even existed. What made me think James would allow me to live? He had even more of a reason to kill me now. Part of me wished for a quick ending to all this.

When I lifted my head James was standing a few feet from me. He reached a hand down to me, gesturing for me to get up. I hesitated for a minute before taking his hand and letting him pull me to my feet. We stood facing each other, not moving, not talking.

James cleared his throat after a few minutes, I almost laughed out loud knowing that there was no reason for it. He was trying to be human for me, less of a scary monster.

"I am so sorry Bella; I don't know what came over me." His tenderness hurt more than if he had thrown the whole thing back in my face.

It was so hard to be angry when he was being so endearing. The internal battle I had been fighting while he was gone raged inside me. I hated him, and I felt bad for him all at once. I wanted him to laugh in my face, to crudely recall all the dirty details, anything to fuel the anger inside me. Instead it was slowly dying out.

"This is all wrong, I can't do this anymore." His voice was full of regret and apology. My heart leapt as he stepped towards me. What did he mean?

"I just... you were so warm. I wanted to feel close to someone. It's been so long." He wasn't giving excuses, just reasons.

I wrapped my arms around myself and cried silently for everything we had both lost. He was against me now; his embrace was tight but gentle.

"Edward is better than I could ever be." James said it like he was admitting defeat. He moved away from me and sat on the bed. "It just hurts so much, to see someone who has everything I never could."

Understanding settled in my mind finally. This is why he hated Edward so much. Jealousy could be so strong, strong enough to turn into hate.

My heart was torn in half. Here sat my rapist, he had taken away the only thing I had to give Edward that no one else could ever have. But I couldn't help feeling sorry for him. I sat on the bed next to him and held his hand in mine.

"He does love me, and he will never hurt me." I said it out loud for myself just as much as James. We both needed the reassuring now.

"You're right…" He agreed, regret lingering in his words. "He loves you that much; I didn't love Melody enough to not hurt her." His voice trailed off into painful silence.

"That's not what happened James, it wasn't your fault. How could you have known?" Nothing made sense anymore; I was two different people in one body, the victim comforting the villain.

"It does matter, I let that one mistake control me, and I have killed so many people since then." I felt him go rigid. There was nothing I could say to that. James was a killer; there was no way to excuse that.

"She was so sweet and innocent Bella. I gave up on everything after that. How could I trust a universe that would allow something like that to happen to someone like her?" He was so young at that moment, our eyes meeting for the first time since last night. James looked like a different person; the mask he had worn for so long was gone.

"I am really, so sorry Bella." I had to look away; I didn't think I could ever forgive him.

The loss I felt was excruciating. Every few seconds Edward's face would appear in my mind, like a beacon of love keeping me sane. Some how we would be together again, I knew this in my heart. I would protect him from what had happened. He never needed to know how much I had lost while I was away from him. This wasn't his fault.

"Please take me home James." I choked out the words through my pain.

My heart felt heavy, with pity for James, and for myself. I wanted so much for last night to have never happened. Things could be so different for James and I if it hadn't. But for the rest of my life I would have to remember, and so would he. He nodded and sat up.

"That's the only right thing to do." James wasn't talking to me anymore, but convincing himself.

He bent over to lift me from the bed, but hesitated. I linked my arm around his shoulders in encouragement. He carried my limp body to the car. It felt like I was recovering from a long illness, too weak to move, and groggy from too much time away from my regular life.

I worried that I wouldn't recognize the faces of the people I loved. It had only been a few days, but it felt like years.

We drove into the setting sun, the light blinding me, and making everything around us black in the shadows. My days and nights were reversed, I felt like I would be living in perpetual darkness. I rolled down the window and let the cool evening air whip my hair into knots.

Nothing felt real. The vampire sitting next to me was not the same vampire who had trapped me in the ballet studio a year ago; he wasn't even the same vampire who had kidnapped me so many days ago. For the moment he was just a sad man who had unwillingly killed the love of his life, and had spent an eternity committing as many horrible sins as he possibly could to numb himself from the pain; still trying to fight the guilt that his first killing had burned into him.

I wished I could have known James as a human. The gentleness in him now seemed impossible for the evil being I had thought him to be.

I knew without a doubt that he hadn't seen me underneath him last night. His mind had transformed me into her, letting him feel her after so many centuries apart. The glazed look in his eyes had been hiding my face from him, replacing it with Melody. The hunger to be with her drove him into me. Neither of us would ever be ok from the experience of it though.

That didn't lessen the pain in my soul. I wondered if I would ever be able to let Edward touch me without feeling James' hands. Would I ever be able to block out his face? Would I want to?

The last thought made my whole body feel wrong, like my skin was too tight. We drove into the night, finally ending the madness. I was going home to Edward and everything would be all right. If only I had known it could never be that easy.


	10. Chapter 10

The Twilight characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.  
Thank you for all the great reviews! You guys are the best!

**Chapter 10**

Edward-

When I found the cabin in the middle of the clearing my heart sank, the thought of my Bella being anywhere near this piece of crap made me sick. I followed their trail to the back of the cabin and into the kitchen.

Everything was covered in dirt and grime; it smelled like something was rotting underneath one of the floorboards. I silently checked all the rooms off the hallway until I got to the door on the right; I nudged it open with my toe of my boot.

My eyes searched the room for signs of Bella. I could smell her stronger in here then anywhere else along the trail. I was instantly drawn to the little mattress in the corner. There were smears of blood all along the top part of the mattress, fury boiled in my veins. I would make him suffer for every droop of her blood that he had spilt.

Frustration was mixing with my anger, their trail was weak outside, and I wasn't sure which way they had gone. I searched the area until I noticed the tire tracks; I followed them to the end of the dirt driveway and sprinted left down the beat up old road. It wasn't long until I came across a gas station. I would have thought it was abandoned if the lights hadn't been working.

I entered cautiously, scanning the area for clues of where they had gone. Bella's scent was over powered by the smell of decay. It was coming from behind the counter. I wasn't worried about what I would find back there. Alice had seen Bella alive in her most recent visions.

It wasn't good though, the body of the unlucky clerk was piled unnaturally onto itself, only a tiny bit of blood pooled under his neck. This must have been dinner I thought bitterly. I felt guilty about leaving the poor man, but there was nothing I could do. Eventually someone would have to stop in, another customer or a delivery truck.

Outside I opened my phone and called Alice. I was at a dead end here; I needed to know where to go.

"Alice, where is she?" My voice was drawn and raspy, like I had been breathing smoke.

"They're traveling I think, back towards Fork's. Listen Edward, there's something-" I hung up and hid behind the dumpster on the west side of the convenience store. If they were coming back to Fork's they would have to pass this way. I didn't think James would take any main roads, not with the sun shining.

I settled against the wall of the dumpster and contemplated all the things I wanted to do to James. I wanted him to suffer through every pain he had caused Bella. I wanted to snap his bones and tear the flesh from his body. A darker part of me thought of ways to show him just how humiliating rape could be. Time passed quickly while I was lost in my thoughts of torture and revenge.

Just when I was about to change plans I heard tires leaving the pavement into the dirt parking lot. This was better than I had hoped for; I hadn't expected James to stop at the scene of the crime. I crouched low behind the wall, waiting to see what they were doing.

My world tilted off center when I saw Bella. Her skin was even paler than usual, and there were dark purple circles under her eyes. I could see deep bruises peaking out of the collar of her sweatshirt. Rage exploded from me and I leaped at James as he exited the car.

The impact sent us both careening into the wall of the store, sending plaster and glass shattering into the evening air. James lay still beneath me, he met my eyes, but they were not filled with hate like I remembered. From behind us I could hear Bella screaming, she was running towards us, yelling my name. It also sounded like she was saying "stop" but at that same moment memories flooded James' mind.

It had been agonizing to see what Alice had, but to experience it through James' mind was threatening to push me off the edge. Through his mind I could hear Bella's cries, I could feel her fighting, and I could feel what it had been like to be inside her. I picked James up and looked him in the eyes, letting all the anger of hell shine through mine so he could see what was waiting for him.

"There is no escape this time." I growled and tossed him across the parking lot into the truck on the other side.

The metal crumpled under the blow. James was slowly getting up, but made no move to fight back. Bella's screams sounded muffled and far away. I stalked over to James and punched him in the face, using every ounce of strength I had. His head snapped back with the sickening sound of cracking bones. James' head hung to the side unnaturally, he was reaching for something to steady himself.

"Fight back you piece of shit!" He was lowering himself to the ground while his bones quickly healed themselves. His refusal to face me was making me even angrier.

"It's not so fun when it's not a little girl you're hitting is it!"

James eyes darkened, his face looked almost… sad.

I kicked him in the stomach, the truck behind him dented with the movement. His body doubled over, but he still didn't move. His thoughts were barely trickling through the cage of fury in my mind.

I saw flashes of a young girl, with curly, light brown hair. She was smiling and laughing in the sunlight. He was kissing her and running his hands through her hair. Then in a flash it switched to him feeding off of her, blood and pain painted her face. Just another one of his helpless victims I thought, just like my Bella.

With a cry of rage I put both of my hands on either side of his neck and pulled as hard as I could. There was a loud tearing sound that echoed through the still night air. James' body dropped to the side, his head still in my hands. I dropped it onto the limp corpse at my feet with disgust. Only now was I able to register Bella's voice completely.

I turned back to see her kneeling on the ground only feet from me, covering her mouth with her hands and crying uncontrollably. My violent outburst must have scared her even more than she already was.

Guilt softened my stance; I carefully walked over to her, trying to be non-threatening.

She jumped up into my arms and wrapped her own around my neck. I let out a long sigh and buried my face in her hair. Bella was shaking so hard I expected her to fall into pieces. I sat down on the ground and pulled her into my lap.

"Sshh… it's ok now." I rocked us back and forth as her sobs broke through my frozen heart. This was my doing, the pain she was in, it was entirely my fault.

"He can't hurt you ever again Bella." She turned her face up to me and I kissed her lips lightly, the warmth of them spread through me.

"Edward, you don't understand. He was bringing me home." Her eyes flickered to the lifeless body behind me.

"Alice told me you were coming." I explained.

Was she confused about how I found her? She just put her face against my chest and cried. She had been through so much, she wasn't thinking straight. I needed to get her to a doctor. I carried her a little ways away a set her against a tree.

"I'll be right back." She didn't look stable enough for me to leave her, but I had to take care of James before we could go.

I took his body and his now detached head into the store and dropped it on the floor next to his last victim. How fitting I thought. I found some lighter fluid and a match, and after I had covered James with the entire bottle I took a few steps back. I said a prayer to whomever it was that was watching over us to make sure James went to the depths of hell where he belonged and lit the match.

Before the flames could reach the wood floor of the store I was back with Bella in arms. We were running through the trees now, her small warm body snuggled close to me. She hadn't moved in so long that I thought she was sleeping, but when I looked down her eyes were wide and sad.

"Don't worry love, we're going home now." I whispered into her hair. She just closed her eyes and rested her head against me.


	11. Chapter 11

The Twilight characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

**Chapter 11**

Bella-

My heart wasn't in my chest; it was floating out in space, torn into tiny pieces. That was the only explanation for how I was feeling. I was in Edward's arms racing home, exactly like I had wanted, but it felt wrong, something was missing.

James' face kept replaying in my head over and over. At the last second, before Edward ended his long life, he looked up at me and I could read everything he wanted to say to me in his eyes. They were so sad, but relief shone through like a light in the dark.

He said he was sorry for everything he had ever done, to me and everyone else. He was sorry he had spent his existence trying to be the evil creature he thought he was made to be, and he was happy it was over. All in one look, he had smiled at me weakly, and then he was gone.

I had been screaming at Edward to stop, I wanted to explain to him what had happened. He had appeared out of nowhere, a beautiful monster, hell bent on revenge. The rage that radiated out of him made him almost unrecognizable. I wanted to run to him, to throw my arms around him and beg him to stop, but I was too scared to get close. It was the only time in our relationship that I had ever been scared of Edward.

He took James' body into the store and burned it down. Now James was part of everything else I thought; the air in my lungs, and the stars in the sky. I tried to explain to Edward after everything was over, but he was too worried about me to pay attention to what I was really saying. Now we were almost to Edward's house, I wasn't ready for reality. How was I going to explain my absence to everyone?

The sorrow that wrapped around me made it difficult to feel the happiness I had expected for my reunion with Edward. He was still the same Edward, but I wasn't the same Bella. I never would be again. I burrowed my face deeper into his hard chest, trying to block out the world around me. I wished things could be different. It seemed like I could do was wish anymore.

Every light in the house was on, making it look like a huge bonfire in the middle of all the trees. When we came through the front door instantly everyone came to meet us. I couldn't bring myself to talk. I just watched everyone watching us. Their eyes wide with relief that we were both back ok, only Alice's eyes were narrowed with grief.

Edward took me upstairs to a spare room for Carlisle to examine me. When he set me gently on the bed, my mind thought of James doing the same exact thing only hours earlier. It was amazing how these two men could do the same thing, but it could seem so different.

He watched me silently, concern wrinkling his forehead. Carlisle came in after us and sat on the edge of the bed. Dread spread through my stomach like ice. I didn't want to talk about what had happened, not to anyone.

"Bella, would it be alright with you if I evaluated your injuries?" Carlisle was trying to portray professionalism along with the comfort of being someone I already knew well. It was hard for me to think of him as a Doctor and not just Edward's father figure.

I wanted to say it was ok, but I couldn't talk, the neurons in my brain were misfiring and the words wouldn't make it to my mouth. All I could do was look at Edward, the worry in his eyes growing every second.

"Ok Bella, I am going to take a look then. If you want me to stop at any moment just say so." Carlisle's cool hands pushed the hair out of my eyes as he shown a small light into them, moving back and forth quickly.

Edward helped me sit up as Carlisle pulled the grey sweatshirt off. He examined my wrists and arms; the bruises were still an angry red and purple mix.

"Where does it hurt the most?" Edward asked softly, but I just continued to stare off in the distance. How could I explain that my heart was where all the real pain was? He turned to Carlisle, panic in his voice.

"What's wrong with her?" Edward had been to medical school, but he didn't trust himself with me, he never had.

"I think she is shock Edward, but physically she seems alright. She will need an internal exam though." They exchanged cryptic looks.

"There's no reason to put her through that twice. The Doctor's at the hospital can do it." I was so numb at this point that it really didn't matter to me; actually I didn't want it done. But that was neither here nor there I thought. I still had this problem with my mouth not working.

"What are we going to tell everyone?" Edward sounded tired for the first time since I had met him.

"Everyone thinks you're still gone, they are now considering the possibility of abduction. They think whoever got Bella got you too." Edward was nodding his head.

"It won't be suspicious if I show up with her." I was having trouble following their conversation. Since Edward could read Carlisle' thoughts they weren't saying everything out loud. I was tired of listening; I let my eyes close, barely noticing when Edward lifted me off of the bed again.

He was whispering to everyone in hushed tones, I could only pick up a few words here and there. But I heard Alice's musical voice clearly.

"It's going to be ok." I didn't open my eyes to look at her, but I was sure she was talking to me.

We were back outside, the cold air sending goose bumps up my exposed arms. I could hear the wind through the leaves, the water running somewhere near by. We passed everything at lightening speed.

I really should have been more concerned about what my part in all this would be, but I couldn't stop thinking about James. I cried silent tears for him; the wind dried them to my cheeks.

Somewhere behind us the sun was rising. The light behind the clouds were changing, everything went from black to grey. We were walking at a human speed now, I had the feeling Edward was prolonging the time we had together. I knew that once we got back to real life it would be awhile before we could go back to the way things were, if we ever could at all.

He stopped just a few feet short of the clearing that was my front yard. The afternoon that Edward had left me there seemed millions of years away. He kissed my forehead, then my cheeks, and finally my lips. They fit against mine perfectly.

"It's all going to be ok now."

With that he stepped out onto the grass in front of my house. I looked behind us, one last time at the dark forest where this had all started. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but I thought I could see a flash of gold behind us, the same color that James' hair had been. It was gone a second later; it couldn't have been I thought. Could it?

_Well this is the end to this story, I have some ideas for a sequel, but I haven't decided on it yet. Thank you so, so much for the reviews!! They make me happier than egg salad. =) Don't ask… Let me know if you liked the ending!!_

_The sequel is up now; it's called 'A Second Chance' if anyone is interested._


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